#2 to dust base needed how should I do it

[stevenf]

My road is 500 or so foot long, curvy and hilly with a few wet weather springs thrown in for fun. I have two options a 12,000 lb capacity dump truck that can chain his gate and drive to give me a preliminary spread of base the length of the road or a 25,000 lb capacity belly dump that has to drive to dump his load. I hope to have some left over to stockpile for the never ending potholes and washouts. The larger load is actually about $75.00 cheaper than the dump truck but he can't leave me a pile he has to drive although he can pour it out a lot heavier in a specified area and I could just gather it back to a pile with the loader. What is ya'lls experience for a 500 foot road that has little or no base, how much base do I need for a 500 foot road a lot so don't worry about it a get the big one or? After its dumped then what I'll be using a M9000 with an extreme duty 84" box blade with a hinged back blade.

 

[Egon]

One 10 yard truck is going to be pretty skinny for 500 feet. Or am I not reading right?

Egon

 

[stevenf]

No Egon your right I guess if a 12,000 dump truck load is 10 yards. Thats exactly what I'm asking will 12,000 lbs put a road down for 500 feet, I just don't have any idea how much base it takes to put say a 3" or 4" thick road for 500 feet.

 

[DavesTractor]

Around 60 yards will get you started if you keep your road narrow.

 

[aardvark]

I calculated that:
47 yards would do 500 ft, 10 ft wide, 3 inches thick
62 yards would do 500 ft, 10 ft wide, 4 inches thick
93 yards would do 500 ft, 10 ft wide, 6 inches thick

 

[Egon]

Stephen

Crushed gravel will weigh about 3200 Pounds +/_ 500 pounds /cubic yard depending on how dense and wet it is.

A dual axle truck usually hauls from 10 to 12 yards depending on local weight restrictions, sideboards and if it is a tag axle.

Do your calculations based on yardage. One cubic yard is 3x3x3 Ft. and try to purchase based on yardage not weight.

Maybe work the road before gravel to get it as close to grade as possible. For the wet spots you may wish to check the drainage and improve it if possible. If not perhaps dig out a foot or so and use crushed gravel to fill it in. Try and grade the ditches for proper drainage and slope.

You may also think about putting down a very light lift and then adding more in later years.

Happy road building and remember my limited knowledge is 40 years behind the times.

Egon

 

[Freds]

I'm not sure what #2 to dust is..., but I just put down some gravel in my drive (crushed limestone, what the gravel co. called 411) and I have over 50 tons down. My driveway is 12' wide, comes in off the road 160', circles around the house and has about a 15 x 60 parking area at the bottom of the circle. It runs from 2-4 inches thick and did not tailgate as easily as the 2b stone I had put down 2 years ago. I could still find places for some more gravel.

 

[RobS]

Our drive is 750 feet but mostly flat. Our contractor graded off topsoil then put down large rock (fist sized). We drove on that for a while during construction of the house to work it in some. Then they put down 3-4 inches of 3/4 inch to fines. It's been OK but now (two years later) could use a top coat again.

The others are correct, do your math on the volume you'll need. Length times width times thickness all in feet then divide by 27 to get cubic yards. You'll be looking at many tri-axle dump truck loads of material /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[KennyV]

stevenf...
Get the LARGEST load(s) you can get delivered (cheapest that way), then use your tractor loader… everyone else has covered the how to build and how to measure amount… good luck, road/driveway building can be fun /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif if you have the time to do it right. KennyV.

 

[bczoom]

I've read through this thread and a couple things come to mind.

Not exactly sure the sizes of trucks you're referring to. Around here, a 12 yard truck has 2 fixed + 1 jump axle in the rear. That's to me a 25 ton (in the box) truck. 70K# total weight. I've seen the bigger belly dump but they can't get near me because they can't get bonded with the town.

Anyway, before you select a truck, a couple things to consider.

No picture or explicit detail but a big question. What's around the driveway? Based on height and weight of these trucks, will they be able to drive down the driveway?

If you go with a dump truck, chained tailgate and let it do the initial spreadding, it's going to need probably 25' or more of vertical height. Any power lines, branches or other overhead obstructions?
For curves/hills - As the driveway goes, is the driveway itself flat? (going from side-to-side). Along with this, can your driveway take the weight of almost 80,000#? (you mentioned springs). I've seen a couple trucks sink in on one side... badly. When his box was tilted for dumping, there's a lot of weight on the back axle(s). The truck could either get stuck, or worst case, tip.

With the hills and curves... can they turn around or will they have to back out? Can they back out while staying on the driveway?

If you opt for piles for other than filling pot holes, do you have a blade (flat/scraper or box) for your tractor? Your bucket will be fine for moving the pile around and filling holes but won't be very good (or at least fast) for finishing. With a FEL + box blade, you can move a 10-12 yard load in probably 1/2 hour or so with a nice finish.